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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25383787">Born again</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/nishiki/pseuds/nishiki'>nishiki</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Happy Little Accident [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Umbrella Academy (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dad!Klaus Hargreeves, Angst and Feels, Angst and Tragedy, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dad!Klaus Hargreeves, Drug Abuse, Drug Addict Klaus Hargreeves, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, Drugs, Fatherhood, Gen, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Klaus Hargreeves Needs Help, Klaus Hargreeves takes responsibility, Klaus Hargreeves-centric, Light Angst, Mary and Klaus are mates, No Romance, Parenthood, Pregnancy, Teen Pregnancy, Unplanned Pregnancy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 11:33:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,608</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25383787</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/nishiki/pseuds/nishiki</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Can be read as stand-alone, can also be read before the main story</p><p>"I’m pregnant."<br/>Klaus Hargreeves was sure that God or whatever the fuck else created everything was laughing hysterically somewhere. It was a cosmic joke - there was no other explanation. Mary looked at him out of her big brown doe-eyes as if he held all the answers of the universe as if he wasn’t as fucked up as she currently was. </p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Happy Little Accident [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1808335</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>137</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Born again</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"I’m pregnant."</p><p>Klaus Hargreeves was sure that God or whatever the fuck else created everything was laughing hysterically somewhere. It was a cosmic joke - there was no other explanation. Mary looked at him out of her big brown doe-eyes as if he held all the answers of the universe as if he wasn’t as fucked up as she currently was. </p><p>For a second, he wasn’t even sure if he had heard her correctly. Maybe it was just the drugs messing with his brain right now. The cocktail of MDMA and Cocaine surging through his veins. The gasp that tore from his dead brother’s throat, however, made him rethink this. Ben would never leave him alone and half the time, Klaus wasn’t even sure if he was really there or just a hallucination of his guilt-riddled brain. If <em>he </em>would be dead, he would certainly not hang around one of his siblings 24/7. He was blissfully numb to the world beyond the veil when he was strung out and high as a kite. Ben, however, didn't seem to care about that. </p><p>"Oh," Klaus said after he had untwisted his tongue. His face felt hot and he didn't quite know why. Maybe it was just the exhaustion after Mary had practically dragged him off the dance floor - and right as he was seducing a possible customer too! He had had the guy wrapped around his little finger as Mary had walked in, spotted him, and pulled him away from his catch. "Congratulations, I guess? Who’s the lucky father?"</p><p>"You."</p><p>"Oh, fucking shit!" Ben - or the hallucination or whatever he was - called out. He would have thought that any of his siblings, dead or alive, would rather start laughing than cursing if someone would ever tell Klaus outright that he was about to become a daddy. This possibility was only one reason why he usually preferred men in the first place. Ha! Wouldn't it be funny if he would go home, a pillow under his shirt and tell dear old daddy that he was pregnant? Wouldn't it be funny if this would be one of his superpowers? At least being able to have kids would have been a more useful power than being tormented by the dead. </p><p>"Klaus!" Mary snapped her fingers in front of his face and made him realize that he had spaced out again. Well, what did she expect? She knew how he got when he had a date with good old Molly and her friend Big C. "Klaus, did you hear what I just said?"</p><p>"Of course!" He replied quickly and with a dry laugh. His lips felt numb and his teeth very dry. Weird. Were teeth supposed to feel dry? "You must be wrong, though! There’s no way I’m the daddy! I mean our hookup was … like three months ago or something? How would you even be able to tell? No offense, Baby - you know I love you but … we are kinda in the same business, Babygirl. If I were pregnant I wouldn't be able to tell who the bastard was that knocked me up! Hey! Wouldn't it be wild if <em> I </em> was pregnant? How does it feel like? I imagine it to be really disgusting! I mean you have a literal parasite living in you and leeching off of you. I need to ask my brother Ben - he’s dead though - he had a portal or something in his stomach and could summon weird Lovecraftian monsters through it. I never asked him. I bet that felt kinda like being pregnant too, right?" </p><p>He only stopped talking as Mary put a hand over his mouth. Weird. As his mouth snapped shut his entire mouth felt very dry. Except for his tongue. His tongue felt warm and sluggish. Maybe he had a slug in his mouth. Had someone put a slug in his mouth? Ben would know. He felt the urge to put his fingers in his mouth and pull on his tongue just to see if it was indeed his tongue. The thought made him giggle behind Mary’s hand.</p><p>"I can tell that it's yours, Klaus, because my doctor said that I am about 11 weeks along. And you were the only idiot I fucked without protection because we were too fucked up that night when it happened - I mean otherwise it wouldn't have happened! I am always careful when I am with other guys or customers. I always use protection! <em> Always</em>, Klaus!"</p><p>"I don't know … Are you sure?" </p><p>"Yes!" Mary looked as if she wanted to cry. He hated it when she looked like she wanted to cry. She was such a gorgeous girl. She was younger than him, but only by a year. He was about to turn eighteen in a week or so. Time really had lost all it's meaning for him nowadays. He missed Diego, though. He wanted to celebrate turning eighteen with his brother. Mary had only just turned seventeen in July. </p><p>He remembered that this was why they had celebrated and gotten so fucking wasted in the first place. She was too good for the streets, too good for being all on her lonesome with a baby in her belly at seventeen. She had the bounciest, loveliest curls he had ever seen, the palest skin and the biggest, roundest, brightest, brown doe-eyes. She was <em>cute</em>. Cute in a way those weird cherubs would look on those grotesque paintings in churches. Her face was round and her lips plump. She looked much younger than she was - which was the appeal she used to find customers too. She had a naivete about herself that people tended to abuse. Klaus always tried to make sure that this wouldn't happen too much when he would meet her somewhere. </p><p>"What do I do now?" She suddenly sobbed and Klaus felt overwhelmed by guilt. He didn't want to be the reason why Mary was crying. She was his only friend here in London, after all. They had met at the disco in June. She had just run away from the foster home that had taken her in after her mother had passed away from cancer. Klaus had still been new to the city and a little confused about how things worked in London. She had seen him struggle with the money, came over to him and took him under her wing. After that, they had become fast friends and now Mary was crying because of something he had done. There was this little voice in the back of his head telling him that there was no way she knew that it was his baby. That she wanted his money because she had found out about him. Fuck … As if he cared! </p><p>"I don't have money to get rid of it!" She then sobbed. "It's too late anyway! No doctor would do it! What do I do? I can't have a baby on the streets, Klaus! I can't- How am I supposed to raise a baby when I don't even have a home?" </p><p>"Don't worry" He said and clasped her hands. He could hear Ben saying something but he droned it out. He was such a negative Nancy anyway. "You’ll have this baby and we’ll figure something out, okay? I’ll take care of you both."</p><p>※※※※※※※</p><p>His days were blurring together into one big blob of color, sounds, and feelings. He couldn't say when he had last eaten or what. Not that it seemed important anyway. He woke up at the weirdest places - sometimes without an inkling of how many days might have slipped past him while he was out, with no idea what people might have done to him while he had been unconscious. The thought should be scaring him but it didn't. It seemed to scare Ben enough for the two of them. He was pleasantly numb to all of it - the pain, the hunger, the fear, the disgust. He couldn't feel anything and finally, even Ben had shut up for good. </p><p>"Klaus?" He blinked - sluggish but he blinked. The world outside of his head made little to no sense. Everything was a blur of dark colors, a tapestry that had been dragged through the mud. He thought about the tapestry in the library of the academy. It had shown a hunting party from the medieval ages or something. Diego and he had set fire to it one winter when they were fourteen just out of boredom and in a misguided attempt of rebellion. "Hey … Klaus." There was this voice again, soft and gentle and he was certain that he knew it, even despite the fact that he had not heard it for a while. "It's me, Mary."</p><p>Mary. He knew a girl named Mary once. A crazy bird that one was. He felt cold air blowing across his skin and blinked again. Above him he saw a white ceiling that was showing a few concerning cracks. Maybe the ceiling would crumble and collapse and fall down on him - ending his life in the process. Wouldn't that be fun? The ghost of a laugh slipped past his dry and numb lips but he barely recognized the sound as his own voice.</p><p>"Klaus … Hey … What did you take?" There was the voice again. "How much did you take?" </p><p>Where even was he? Right next to him was a broken window. Ah, so that was where the cold air was coming from. It was autumn, right? Wasn't it autumn? There was a thought creeping up on him from somewhere - a memory. </p><p>"I miss my brother..." He muttered quietly to no one in particular. "We were supposed to celebrate together."</p><p>"Celebrate what?" The voice - Mary - asked quietly and only then did he realize that she had her hand on his cheek. Her skin was warm against his frozen flesh. "Klaus, I need you to stay awake, okay? Help is on the way."</p><p>What help? He was feeling fantastic. Glorious, in fact. He was floating. "It's my birthday…"</p><p>"Your birthday was three weeks ago." Mary sighed quietly. "Remember? We had drinks. I was looking for you all over the city because I couldn't find you after that night." </p><p>"I want Diego." </p><p>"I know, Klaus" She whispered with the air of someone who had heard the same thing being repeated over and over again. He didn't connect the dots, though. His brain felt sluggish and slow and his thoughts didn't seem able to form properly. Mary was here, though and as she became a little clearer now, he noticed the baby bump that she was carrying around. </p><p>"Hey … how’s that baby coming along?"</p><p>"Just fine, Klausie." She smiled and caressed his cheek. "He’s doing just fine, Love." </p><p>"I want Diego…"</p><p>"I know, Klaus."</p><p>The next time he opened his eyes he was blinded by white light, lying in a bed that was far more comfortable than the last place he’d been at. He could tell that he was at the hospital right away. The smell was uncanny. It smelled of disinfectant and disease. </p><p>"Welcome back to the land of the living, Love." He knew that voice. As he turned his head to the side, he found Mary sitting in the visitor’s chair right next to the curtain that was separating Klaus’ bed from that of another patient. </p><p>"What happened?"</p><p>"I found you in that crack house I told you not to go in. You were completely naked. I guess the other crackheads stole your stuff. They probably thought you were dead." Mary sighed with a small smile. "Doctors ran a rape kit and blood tests to see if you caught something … you’ll need to come back in three weeks though and repeat the blood test."</p><p>"Mhm," He hummed quietly. He thought dully that he should be shocked and horrified and disgusted and afraid. He wasn’t though. The sensations were certainly somewhere inside of him but he couldn't connect to them. That seemed to be a trend recently. "Hey … how’s that baby coming along?"</p><p>Mary smiled softly at him and gently caressed his cheek. "He’s doing just fine, Love. Sleep a little more. We’ll be here when you wake up." </p><p>"Hey, Mary … Can we go see Allie’s new movie?" </p><p>"We’ve already seen it, Baby." </p><p>"Oh." </p><p>※※※※※※※</p><p>Finding a place in a soup kitchen in London was a nightmare at Christmas. The temperatures had dropped significantly these past few days and people were talking about having a white Christmas this year. It was hard to share their excitement when his life played out in the streets. Maybe he should try to find some oblivious guy again and spend the next few months with him at a warm apartment or something. Ben never liked it when he would go with strangers to leech off of them.</p><p>"I think maybe being pregnant is your superpower" Klaus drawled as he watched Mary coming back with a tray in her delicate hands. Klaus himself wasn’t very hungry but he had agreed to come here when she asked him. "I mean if it gets us a spot in a crowded place like this, it must be, right?"</p><p>Mary chuckled and sat down. She started to have problems maneuvering around her ever-expanding belly but Klaus thought that she looked adorable the way she would waddle around like a massive penguin. As she sat down he noticed that she had hardly gotten anything on her plate. She had opted for a bowl of soup instead of the good stuff and so Klaus took it upon himself to place his own plate on her tray and took her soup instead. Next to him, Ben groaned.</p><p>"I’m really not that hungry." Mary sighed. It had been a coincidence that they had met tonight at that street corner. They weren’t always working the same shifts or in the same locations, so to say but when they had met tonight they had quickly decided to leave work be for tonight. It was way too cold anyway for any customers to come to them.</p><p>"You need to eat." He said sternly. "You’re eating for two, remember?"</p><p>As he took in her appearance now, he noticed that her pupils were blown wide. In fact, he could hardly tell where her pupils ended and the brown of her irises began. "Hey … are you still taking shit?" He muttered quietly. Not that he would judge her or something. He himself was on three different drugs right that moment - but he wasn’t pregnant either. Not as far as he was aware, anyway. "Didn't you say you wanted to get clean?"</p><p>"Yeah" She sighed. "But I … I can't. It's too hard. I tried. Klaus … can I tell you something? But you’ll think that I’m a horrible person."</p><p>"Tell me" Klaus shrugged. "There is nothing that could ever shock me. My Dad is the biggest piece of shit in human history, after all!" Ben, who was sitting next to him, stared at Klaus in disapproval of the whole situation. Ben was always disapproving, though. Before his death, they had gotten along, sure, but they had never been the closest of friends. Not as close as Klaus and Diego had been. He probably could think of something more pleasant than being stuck with his junkie brother. </p><p>"I … I … Uhm … A part of me hopes that … the little guy doesn’t make it…"</p><p>He didn't know how to feel about it. Maybe he didn't even have any right to feel anything about it. It was Mary’s body, after all, Mary's responsibility, Mary's problem, really. Because even if he would help her pay for the baby - <em> she </em>would be stuck with the little rascal. Still, he felt his stomach twist at those words, and yet he could understand her, in a way. The thought of being responsible for another life at such a young age was certainly horrifying. </p><p>"I mean … how am I supposed to take care of him, Klaus? I’m homeless! And so are you! We sell ourselves for drugs and money and throwing a kid in the mix is just wrong! We are kids ourselves! We can't raise a child on the streets! <em> I </em> can't. And maybe it makes me a monster but … but … what life would he have with me anyway?" Mary all but exploded, her voice tight and wavering and he could just tell that she was on the verge of tears right now. "I never wanted to be like my mum, you know? Getting knocked up by some bloke and then try to make ends meet for the rest of my life and now here I am, continuing the family tradition!" </p><p>"Hey" He clasped her hands with his own over the table. "Don't give up yet, okay? I can call my dad, if you want me to." He had told her about his family not too long ago even though he hardly remembered that particular night. Maybe he shouldn't have told her. But she had seen the tattoo on his wrist and he had told her about Reggie and his siblings. </p><p>"Old man Hargreeves?"</p><p>"Yes. If you really want to give the little guy a good start, let me call him." He could tell that Ben was not a fan of the idea just by the way he looked at him from the side but Klaus paid him no mind. "I tell him about the situation and he will buy you into the best facility in all of the UK, you will have everything you want. If I talk to him, you will never need to worry about money."</p><p>"I can't ask that of you." Mary shook her head. "You hate him."</p><p>"Sure but … the little guy doesn’t deserve to suffer because I hate my father." </p><p>※※※※※※※</p><p>The music was pulsating through his body as Klaus greedily drank in the heat of another body - lips moving against his, fingers brushing down his exposed waist as he was moving his body to the beat, allowing the music to guide him, allowing that stranger to guide him as their mouths slotted together in the silent promise of sinful pleasures soon to come.</p><p>He broke away from the kiss with a husky laugh only for the handsome stranger to bite down on his bottom lip playfully. The next moment, the man offered him a pill and Klaus allowed him to put it on his tongue. He had no idea what it was and neither did he care. He hated it when he would lose consciousness and wake up somewhere with no recollection. He hated it when he was numb to the world, completely zoned out and didn't know what was done to him during those hours - but he didn't hate any of this enough to refuse the drugs that were often offered to him.</p><p>"Klaus!" Even over the loud techno music, he could hear the nagging voice of his dead brother - a brother who had no right to still harass him while his body was decaying in a grave somewhere. "Klaus, your phone!" What phone? Oh right, his phone. He couldn't remember buying it but he had at some point during the summer, hadn't he? It was easy to keep in touch with his dealers this way - or with customers. It felt funny how it was vibrating against his leg now. </p><p>"Klaus!" Ben said again. "It could be Mary! Maybe something's wrong with the baby!"</p><p>"What baby…" He slurred and the stranger furrowed his brows in confusion. </p><p>"What baby?" He grinned. "Don't worry, Baby … I’m taking care of you." </p><p>"Klaus!" </p><p>"Right…" He muttered and stepped out of the embrace. "Let me just … I need to take that call…"</p><p>He had no clue how he made it outside in time to accept the call. As he stumbled out of the warehouse, the cold air hit him straight in the face and almost knocked him off his feet. "Hello?" He slurred into the phone.</p><p>"Mr. Hargreeves?"</p><p>"One and the same … who’s this?"</p><p>"I’m calling from the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel. A young lady, Miss Mary Louise Young was just admitted to the emergency room because her water broke. She said to call you. I take it, you are the father?" </p><p>His whole world turned upside down at these words but somehow he made it through the conversation. Somehow he managed to wave down a cab. Somehow he managed to get to the hospital and to pay the cab driver with trembling fingers after he had pulled a few bills out of the front of his leather pants. Queen Lizzy wouldn’t be amused to know she had been so close to his naked junk. The cab driver wished him good look as he scrambled out - apparently he had kept rambling about having a baby during the drive. He was probably passing off Klaus’ trembling hands to the panic he was feeling right now but Klaus knew that the trembling came from his now near-constant high. He hadn't been sober in weeks.</p><p>Klaus later had no recollection of how he wandered into the hospital or asked for Mary at the front desk. Suddenly, he was sitting on a white plastic chair in a white painted room, waiting with a bunch of other people that were coughing and sneezing or bleeding. What was he waiting for, again? Maybe Ben knew it. Ben, sitting on a chair opposite of him, looked nervous and concerned - then again, he always looked nervous and concerned. That was just who Ben was as a person, right? Even as a toddler he had looked concerned.</p><p>"Isn't it a bit early for the baby to be born?" Ben finally said. Ah, right. The baby. The water broke. Funny. "I mean … she has two months left on the clock, hasn’t she?"</p><p>"Only if it's really mine" Klaus murmured. A young woman looked at him funnily and move a few seats over. Oh right, maybe he shouldn't talk to the empty air in public. He tended to forget that and Ben was not very helpful either in this regard. Ben always seduced him into talking to thin air in public, after all. Maybe his brother was trying to get him thrown in the psych ward as retaliation for Klaus’ numerous pranks on him during their childhood.  </p><p>As he was sitting on his chair in the waiting room, the hours seemed to bleed together without mercy. He had no idea how much time was actually ticking by. There was just white noise in his ears and cotton in his head. He felt light and was sure that he would float towards the ceiling if he would stop holding onto the chair he was sitting on. </p><p>"Mr. Hargreeves?"</p><p>"Klaus!"</p><p>"Huh?" He looked up only to see a young doctor standing in front of him. He looked tired and grey in the face, his eyes looked gentle and warm, though. His name tag read <em> Dr. Hunter</em>.</p><p>"Mr. Hargreeves" The man repeated patiently. </p><p>"How’s Mary?" He murmured as his brain finally caught up with the situation at hand. "And the little guy?"</p><p>"Mr. Hargreeves," The man said again and Klaus felt annoyance wash through him as the man sat down next to him. "I have to inform you that Miss Young was in a very bad condition when she arrived here. She had large amounts of drugs in her system and went into labor prematurely. She started hemorrhaging badly through the birth of her son - in the end, we couldn't do anything for her. She lost too much blood too quickly."</p><p>"What … I mean … is she alright, though?"</p><p>"She passed away, Mr. Hargreeves. I’m very sorry but there wasn't anything we could do for her."</p><p>"Oh…" He then replied. The truth still didn't quite register in his brain, though. He thought that he should feel something. He couldn't feel anything, though. Maybe the drugs had numbed his emotions forever now. Wouldn't this be nice? "And the baby?"</p><p>"He’s currently being checked over by our pediatricians. You can see him soon, though."</p><p>"Is he … okay?"</p><p>"As okay as a premature baby can be." The doctor said. "It's very possible, Mr. Hargreeves, that he will have a lot of medical problems, if he can pull through, that is. I’m not going to lie to you, Sir. If his mother had not taken drugs throughout her pregnancy, I believe that all of this could’ve been prevented. Your son will probably suffer for a very long time the repercussions of his mother’s addiction. I don't want to offend you, Mr. Hargreeves. But you don't seem completely sober yourself."</p><p>"I’m not…" He muttered.</p><p>"You understand that we have to call child protective services, right?"</p><p>"Yeah … Of course…" He said that but he had actually no clue what was going on. "Can I see him?"</p><p>"Yes." The doctor sighed with exhaustion from a probably ungodly long shift and got up again from his seat. </p><p>Klaus hardly felt how he too got back to his feet and followed the man through the endless maze of corridors that were all bleeding together into one huge clusterfuck. Thankfully, he had Ben. He would never find his way out otherwise. Before he knew it, they stopped in front of a window and it took Klaus a long moment to register that they had found their way into the maternity unit of the hospital. Behind the window, he saw a row of little baby cribs with files attached to them. He spotted five newborns lying around asleep, two girls and three boys - judging by the color of the blankets they were wrapped in and the little hats on their tiny heads. </p><p>A little farther in the back, however, he noticed a kind of glass tank standing there with a doctor currently hovering about with a nurse who was scribbling into a file she was holding close to her. He had seen those in movies before. Premature babies often found their way into them. His heart dropped a little at the thought. Sure, he had told Mary on one or two occasions to maybe stop it with the drugs for the baby’s sake but until now the dangers of her drug abuse for the little one had never quite registered in his brain. He wasn’t sure that it was registering now.  </p><p>"Mr. Hargreeves?" He blinked and suddenly the nurse that had been inside the room was next to him. She put a comforting hand on his arm. </p><p>"Yes?"</p><p>"Do you want to meet your son now?"</p><p>He nodded. His mouth felt dry and his tongue was glued to the roof of his mouth. A moment later, he was wearing scrubs, gloves, and a mask over nose and mouth and stood beside the tank in which his baby boy lied in. The thought didn't register in his mind, though. His eyes were glued to the sleeping baby. He was tiny. <em> Tiny</em>. Much smaller than the other babies around him. </p><p>"It's a miracle that he survived his mother’s drug abuse" The doctor - and older gentleman by the name of Dr. Miller - addressed him, his eyes steely and stern as he looked Klaus up and down. Suddenly, for the first time ever, Klaus felt very self-conscious and small the way this man looked at him and judged him for his poor choices in life. There was no doubt about it that the doctor saw right through him immediately. "He is strong, though. There is always the risk of premature babies not pulling through but I have high hopes for this one. His heart is fully developed and so are his brain and his lungs as it seems."</p><p>"Why is he in this thing then?"</p><p>"To keep him warm, mainly. The incubator simulates the womb. Just because your boy seems strong and healthy enough to survive outside the womb already, doesn’t mean that this is true. We need to be careful. I have seen babies like him before that seemed strong initially only to deteriorate  in the span of just a few hours."</p><p>"Can I…"</p><p>"Would you like to hold him?"</p><p><em> No</em>, his thoughts screamed at him. Ben was standing right next to the incubator, staring down at the little guy. <em> No, this is dangerous! </em> Klaus wanted to say. He was so tiny! What if he would break him? "Yes…" He said instead.</p><p>The nurse directed him carefully to a chair in the corner, not too far away from the incubator, and made him sit down. She was offering kind and reassuring smiles and words before the doctor approached him with the little boy and carefully placed him in his arms. Right then his entire world seemed to stand still. Not even Ben was saying anything. He was completely in shock and didn't dare to move a single muscle in his entire body.</p><p>"His mother informed us that she wanted to call him Nathan." The doctor then said.</p><p><em> Nathan </em>hardly weighed anything as Klaus was holding him gently. He could feel how his chest was rising and falling gently and how he all but melted into the warmth of Klaus’ own body. It was the strangest feeling he had ever had in his life and he was certain that he was just having a very weird trip. Surely, soon he would wake up in the hospital after yet another overdose that almost killed him, realizing that he was still in America and that all of this had just been a dream.</p><p>He had no idea how long he remained like this, just staring at the infant in his arms, watching how he was breathing and sleeping without a care in the world, without an inkling of what was going on around him or what all the fuss was about. After a while, however, the nurse approached him again with a smile. "It's time for him to go back into the incubator. You can visit him tomorrow again." She promised with a smile before Klaus awkwardly allowed her to take Nathan again. </p><p>"I think I’m having a very weird trip…" He moaned then.</p><p>"It's scary." The nurse hummed in understanding. "It's scary for every parent." </p><p>※※※※※※※</p><p>Even though he now had it in front of him in black and white, he couldn't make sense of it. But there it was in bold letters, the result of the paternity test he had asked the doctor for - just to make sure that Nathan was his. Not that it would have changed anything, right? He had promised it to Mary that he would make sure that the little guy would have a decent life, after all. Even if he would have turned out to not be his son, he had still promised it to Mary.</p><p>"What do I do now…" He whispered quietly. He was sitting in the maternity ward again, right in front of the room his baby boy was in. Ben was leaning against the wall and Klaus … He had never felt so lost before in his life.</p><p>"Do you have parents that could help you?" Almost he had forgotten the existence of the social worker that was sitting beside him. Her name tag read ‘Grace’ and wasn’t that just a weird coincidence? He would have almost laughed at this if he’d felt it in himself to laugh right now. He had a baby. He was a father. Fuck.</p><p>"My … Uhm … Dad lives in the U.S." He muttered finally and the woman nodded in understanding.</p><p>"I don't mean to pry but … You are one of Sir Reginald Hargreeves’ children, aren't you? I’m sorry … It's just that I recognize that tattoo. My sons were obsessed with the Umbrella Academy growing up."</p><p>Well there was no point in denying it, right? He dragged a hand over his face and sighed. "Yeah… The Séance at your service."</p><p>"Can't your father help you out?" She smiled. He could tell that she meant well but right now the thought of calling Reggie scared the crap out of him. "I’m sure that he would come and help you and little Nathan if you would call him."</p><p>"I … Uhm … My father … I don't really want to involve him."</p><p>"Why not?"</p><p>He scoffed quietly. "Because he’s an abusive monster, that's why." That did stun Grace into silence for a moment. "We got these tattoos when we were thirteen, Lady. We didn't choose them. I think that's all I need to say about our dear old daddy, right?"</p><p>"I didn't know."</p><p>"Nobody does." He shrugged. "Daddy was always exceptionally good at pretending that he was a good man and the people were eager to eat it all up. Behind closed doors, however, we were abused and tormented by him day and night."</p><p>"Is that why you turned to drugs?" It was the first time anyone really asked him about that and for a moment, Klaus didn't know how to respond. </p><p>"Mhm … and the ghosts, of course."</p><p>She was silent again for a second before she huffed. "Right. I remember. You were the one with the ghost powers."</p><p>"Not much of a power - more like a curse."</p><p>After a moment of silence, Grace took a deep breath and clapped her hands, almost startling him in the process. "Okay … the way I see it, Klaus, you have three options right now. Option a) you admit yourself to a rehab facility and get clean so that you can take care of your son. Option b) you call your father for help. Option c) you give custody to the state and allow your son to be put up for adoption. I, honestly, would prefer you’d take option a - mainly because I believe that, if you manage to get clean, you could be a good father to this little man."</p><p>"What makes you think that? You hardly know anything about me."</p><p>"That's true." She shrugged. "But if you wouldn't feel responsible for Nathan and if you really wouldn't want to be with him, you wouldn't be sitting here right now. Hell, you wouldn't have come in the first place when the hospital called. In my line of work I see many young fathers, Klaus - and mothers, of course - who are struggling with addiction. And I can usually tell who is honest and serious about their commitment to raising their child and who isn't. Most young men in your situation would not have come here to see their child even once."</p><p>"I don't want him to get adopted," Klaus whispered after a moment. "I know what it's like when you don't know where you came from. I don't want him to feel this way." </p><p>Ben smiled at him from where he stood by the window that allowed a look into the room where the infants were. He wanted to visit Nathan but right now he couldn't move. He was rooted to the spot. Fuck, he couldn't even recall when he had last slept. When had he last shot up or snorted or swallowed anything? He was bone-achingly sober right now and the sounds of the wailing ghosts around him made it hard to focus on anything. He hated hospitals.</p><p>He needed something. Maybe a quick line of coke. But how could he possibly snort a line of coke in the next bathroom when his son was waiting to meet him again? He didn't want to be all jittery and fucked up when holding his son. What if he would drop him? And he didn't want to be numb while holding him either. </p><p>"In that case … There is a facility in South-East London. They work with a local community center. They are state-funded and take in people who don't have the means to buy themselves into a more luxurious facility. They rarely have a free bed but I have connections to them. If you want me to, I can make the call right now and you can be picked up right after you’ve seen Nathan."</p><p>"I … I don't know … It's all so quick and … what about Nathie? I can't just … What happens to him?"</p><p>"He will be taken care of in the meantime. We have special homes for kids in his situation. Many young mothers need to see their child to get that final push to get clean. We work tightly with this rehabilitation center and the care facility where Nathan will stay. He will get the best medical and social care in that house and it's not far away from the rehab center either. In cases like yours, the rehab facility allows day passes once a month so that you can see your son. You are not allowed to leave without a day pass, though. If you leave without permission, you are not welcomed back there and you will get taken out of the program. The state will have custody over Nathan during your rehabilitation process so that the care facility can make medical decisions if needed."</p><p>"How long is this program?" Deep down he already knew that he would do it. Giving Nathan up for adoption was not an option. Calling Reggie for help wasn’t an option either. </p><p>"It depends." She smiled. "The shortest program takes one year."</p><p>"One year?" He echoed in horror. He had been to rehab once and it had been horror on earth - and that had only been one month.</p><p>"Yes. One year to detox, to work on the underlying psychological issues, to establish new routines, and to teach new skills. The problem with most thirty-day facilities is that they let their clients leave after a month and then they stumble back into their old world because they never learned how to take care of themselves and they still don't have jobs to provide for themselves. A rehab like this rarely helps their clients because, in the end, they are still homeless, they are still alone, they still don't know how to manage life out in the real world. This facility, on the other hand, makes sure that their clients will be prepared for everything. They even have parenting classes for young men and women such as yourself. The rules will get more lenient after six months, for the most part. You will be allowed to see Nathan more often and if the care facility agrees you will be allowed to go on walks with Nathan as well - under supervision, of course."</p><p>It sounded like he was admitting himself and his son to a prison. He looked at Ben for advice and his brother smiled and nodded. "That sounds amazing, Klaus. You need this."</p><p>"I … I’m afraid, though." He muttered to Ben - Grace didn't know that, though. </p><p>"That's normal, Klaus."</p><p>"But … what about my powers? I’m afraid that … when I get sober, the ghosts are unbearable. What if they think I am crazy and put me in the psych ward? Or what if the care facility never deems me fit to be a parent because of the ghosts? They have ruined so much of my life already … I don't want them to ruin this too…"</p><p>"Well, if you are open about it to your counselor, maybe they will find a way to help you with that. The good thing is that you are famous, Klaus. The people know about your family and your powers. If you explain this properly, there will be a way to move forward." </p><p>He stared ahead again before he got up and walked over to the window. He could see that the nurse from last night was checking in on Nathan again.</p><p>"So, do we have a deal?" Grace asked from behind him.</p><p>He gnawed his bottom lip at the question and looked at Ben again before he allowed a defeated sigh to slip out. "Deal."</p>
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